This invention relates to a door guard particularly intended to protect, for example, the frames of doors on industrial freezers, storage lockers or units and the like located in warehouses, grocery stores or similar business establishments. In many instances, a freezer, storage locker or other storage unit will be installed in a warehouse without having any type of protection placed around its doorframe. Under such circumstances, nothing is in place to prevent an object such as a forklift or pallet from colliding with the doorframe and causing significant damage. Such repeated collisions cause undue wear on the doorframe, and contribute to premature replacement of the frame or in some cases, the entire storage unit. In addition, such collisions result in damage to forklifts and pallets, and increase the risk of loss of the inventory being transported.
The door guard of the present invention provides a simple and effective way to avoid such damage and loss. The invention uses commonly available materials and components which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured, and supplied to the user in many different forms, resulting in a door guard adapted for being anchored adjacent to doorframe and to a floor. The door guard takes advantage of planar surfaces to deflect colliding objects away from the doorframe, thereby significantly reducing the risk of damage to doorways, and associated forklifts, transport equipment, and inventory. Although the door guard is designed with protecting the doorframe of a freezer or other storage unit in mind, the door guards of the present invention are ideal for protecting the doorframes of a variety of entryways.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a door guard which protects the doorframe of a freezer, storage locker or other storage unit by deflecting colliding objects away from the doorframe.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door guard for having at least one deflecting surface including a large impact surface area upon which an object may collide and be deflected away from the doorframe, thereby reducing the total distance through which the object travels during deflection.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door guard which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture from commonly available components.
It is another object of the invention to provide a door guard which may be easily removed from one surface, moved, and then anchored to another surface.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed below by providing a door guard for protecting a doorframe. The door guard includes a deflecting member having a vertically-oriented, planar, and horizontally-elongate deflecting surface adapted for being positioned adjacent to a side of the doorframe and projecting outwardly therefrom at an oblique angle thereto for deflecting a colliding object away from the doorframe.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the deflecting member is anchored to a floor surface.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the deflecting member is anchored adjacent to, and at least halfway up, the side of the doorframe.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the deflecting member is a dihedrally-shaped converging surface including two faces intersecting to form an outwardly extending edge.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the deflecting member is a wedge-shaped structure including at least one vertically-oriented face.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the wedge-shaped structure defines an isosceles triangle having an unequal side positioned in alignment with, and two equal sides converging outwardly away from, the doorframe and affixed together by attachment means.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the wedge-shaped structure has first, second and third equilateral sides affixed together by attachment means, thereby forming the wedge. The first equilateral side is positioned in alignment with the doorframe and the second and third equilateral sides converge outwardly from the doorframe.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the wedge includes a top for providing support to the wedge.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the wedge-shaped structure includes a reinforcement member for providing additional support to the wedge-shaped structure. The reinforcement member is positioned intermediate the top and the bottommost edge of the deflecting member. The flange is attached to the deflecting member and includes a plurality of spaced-apart holes defined by the flange, which are adapted for receiving bolts therethrough.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the length of the sides is at least two times greater than the height of the sides.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the door guard includes an outwardly extending attachment flange for securing the deflecting member to a floor. The flange is attached to the deflecting member and includes a plurality of spaced-apart holes defined by the flange. The holes are adapted for receiving bolts therethrough.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the door guard is comprised of steel.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the door guard is comprised of high-density plastic.
The attachment means are preferably a plurality of welded seams.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the pointed edge includes a rubber cap extending along and covering the edge for absorbing the direct impact of a colliding object and for minimizing damage resulting to the object and to the doorframe from the impact.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the door guards are positioned adjacent to a doorframe and on opposite sides of a doorway, thereby cooperating to deflect colliding objects away from the doorframe.